Scouts, volunteers at odds over Camp Stigwandish

An ad hoc group of concerned citizens will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday to explore how best to respond to overtures by the Boy Scouts to possibly divvying off some more of 275-acre Camp Stigwandish in Madison Township to Lake Metroparks.

The group -- called "Thrive Stigwandish" -- formed in July and has about 20 committee members. It will meet at the camp.

This body has expressed several concerns. The foremost of these involves the future of the camp along with safety issues involving unfettered public access as it relates to young people in a camping environment.

The Boy Scouts and Lake Metroparks say that the camp's mission will not be hindered should and if the latter ever picks up additional acreage from the cash-strapped Boy Scout group.

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That is why the two entities continue to meet to discuss all options before moving forward, Lake Metroparks and Boy Scout officials say.

"The Boy Scouts do a good thing and Lake Metroparks does good things. They are beneficial and we're not trying to vilify either group," said Brent Roebuck of Painesville Township and a local Boy Scout camp volunteer who is serving as the group's spokesman.

What Roebuck says his group wants is for the two sides to "slow down and make sure" if the sale is "in the best interests of the scout camp."

The reason for the group's raised concerns, Roebuck said, largely center around protection of the youth should any further land be sold to Lake Metroparks and then be opened to the public.

"Anyone can drive into the Metroparks, and is this a good arrangement?" Roebuck said.

Roebuck also said that the group is aware of the Boy Scouts' financial difficulties and needs funding to continue to operate, but that it should look at some other long-term method of revenue generation rather than a one-time sale.

"We'd like them to pursue something like a lease arrangement with a continuous revenue stream," he said.

Steve Madewell, Lake Metroparks executive director, said his agency has many holdings that have restricted access.

"The Boy Scouts first have to figure this out themselves and whether they want to go forward," Madewell said. "There are many 'ifs', and from our perspective this is all an internal matter with the Boy Scouts and their volunteers."

Madewell said Lake Metroparks was approached by the Boy Scouts in the mid-1990s about Camp Stigwandish. The agency then partnered with the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the two agencies now hold a joint lease easement for 67 acres and another lease easement for 107 acres of Camp Stigwandish.

"Those were executed in 1997 but nothing has changed as to access," Madewell said. "These are not opened to the public but are available to us for conservation purposes and to conduct park-guided walks, hikes and other programs."

An official with the Boy Scouts' Greater Western Reserve Council said his body has been exploring any number of possibilities. But the hard economic realities have dictated that the council at least look at possibly divesting itself of some of the camp's outlying property, says Steve Stefanko of Willoughby and a member of the council's board.

In about a dozen possible land sales discussed, anywhere from zero to as many as 190 or so acres have been examined, Stefanko said.

And the Boy Scout Council further understands that for many of the people involved, this is a highly emotional issue given their longtime association with Camp Stigwandish, Stefanko said.

"I believe the park system and the Council are both sensitive to this, but we have to look at the total picture," Stefanko said. "If this is not a win-win for us and for the park system, then it won't happen."

The bottom line, says Stefanko, is that the Boy Scouts would "still own and control the balance of the property; our core program area."